Ciao famiglia!
Ahhh! This week was so crazy! I want to tell you all! But, it's going to take a bit, so buckle up buttercup ;P
Ok, it all starts with last Sunday! We went to go see this investigator who wasn't answering us, and she still didn't answer. Se we decided to go see a less active, who also wasn't answering us. We took a different root, hoping for a short cut. We go to turn down a street, and I see a bunch of men. It's getting dark, it's a sketch part of town, and I had a feeling that we shouldn't take that street. So on we walk to the next. There are some women and some kids, so we are like, yes, this is safe :) Down we walk, and these ladies keep staring at us... I was like... stop! But my companion looks over, and is like, ciao, tutto bene? And they immediately start going off, like, Ahhhh! You are like angles!! You are so pretty!! You are carrying the word of God, right? We were pretty shocked. They never talked to missionaries before, but one had a Book of Mormon which was English, but magically turned to Italian, so she read quite a bit. We shared "because of him", and the ladies were so funny. They read every work out loud, and kept saying "o che bello", and "o, e verrò no?" So funny! We gave them some article of faith cards (which have Jesus and some children on the front, and one of the ladies made all the kids kiss the Jesus, so funny!) and got their numbers. One of them put is in as "Gesù angeli", so every time we call, she knows that her angles are calling! Ah SO cool!
Then, we called them. One answered, and we had a lesson. She was reading, and even had her son read! She thinks it is true, so we are going to ask her to be baptized next lesson. Then, we called the other, and she was like, I'm sorry, my cousin died today, I have to go to the funeral. But then we had to move the time, and she said she wanted to see us, so we saw her that day at the first lady's house. She was like "the first time I met you guys, my life changed! I know you bring the word of God, I can feel something different! That day, I was feeling so bad, so down. But after I saw you, I felt so much better, you left us with such a great spirit, my life will never be the same!" It was amazing! They are named Carmen and Renna. They are SO prepared! And the whole family comes to listen when we talk to them, it's amazing! Never has this happened, and you can really see the hand of the Lord in the whole thing! Sooo amazing!
Then, like I said, we went to Rome! Haha, Rome! It's so crazy to see the ENTIRE mission! And hear an apostle, the president of the seventy, and the president of the area seventy, and all their wives speak to us. It was so profound. The spirit was strong. And to end it all, we sang the mission hymn, it was unprecedented! The whole mission, united in one purpose :) so cool!
On the train back down, I learned how to solve a Rubix cube, and did so 3 times, still have to practice :) And I found someone who is as much of a nerd as I am when it comes to Doctor Who/ nerdy things :) It was so long, more then 8 hours, but so fun to just talk to and get to know the other missionaries in our district. We have such a great district! Especially our city. We have all been here at least 2 transfers, and we are SO close, it's just so fun!
We also went to Cosenza. The district of Calabria was closed, and incorporated into the stakes of Puglia and Palermo. So, we go to Bari for conference now, instead of Cosenza. The difference is a 7/8 hour bus ride vs a 2 1/2 hour one... guess where we are going next Sunday! That's right, Bari!
It was really hard for the members to have the district closed. The point of the district was for it to become a stake of itself, and it didn't. It failed pretty miserably. Not a lot of people came to the conference. Of the 4 branches in the district, enough people came to make a small ward. It was really rough. But the speakers broke a lot of boxes. For instance, one of the seventy, was like "keeping the sabbath doesn't mean coming to sacrament meeting, and leaving early to cook lunch". Another nugget of gold was "People keep asking me when the temple will be ready, but what about when will you all be ready for the temple? It's been promised that the temple will be ready when the members are ready for it!" Ahh! So needed. But so not heard! Our rides decided to stop in Sila (the mountains) and get lunch from this restaurant on the way home! And told us about it! We had to take the train home... hat was the reference in the popcorn video. We had to take 5 hours to get home instead on an hour drive in the car. Ugh. Calabria! Please pray for Calabria, especially Crotone, they need it!
This week was like night and day compared to last. All is going well, and I am learning so much! I have a testimony that this is all the Lord's work, and nothing we do can change that. We try and be the best we can, and hen the Lord works through us. But it's all his time. He might bless us immediately, or after a really long time. But it is always his work. Always his plan. All we can do is our best. Everyone has their agency, which we can't change, but, we can adjust our own decisions :)
Love you all! Keep the faith!
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